Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? (Oxford Political Theory) [Paperback]

Philippe Van Parijs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198293577 | ISBN-13: 978-0198293576 | Publication Date: January 8, 1998

Capitalist societies are full of unacceptable inequalities. Freedom is of paramount importance. These two convictions are widely shared across the world, yet they seem to be completely contradictory with each other. Fighting inequality jeopardizes freedom, and taking freedom seriously boosts inequality. Can this conflict be resolved? In this ground-breaking book, Philippe Van Parijs sets out a new and compelling case for a just society. Assessing and rejecting the claims of both socialism and conventional capitalism, he presents a clear and compelling alternative vision of the just society: a capitalist society offering a substantial and unconditional basic income to all its members. Not just an exercise in political theory, this book goes on to show what his ideal of a free society means in the real world by drawing out its policy implications. It will be essential reading for anyone concerned about the just society and the welfare state as we move into the twenty-first century.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The most forceful and sophisticated advocate of basic income from [a principled] angle."--Journal of Political Philosophy

"This is clearly an importasnt work in political theory. It's superbly written and argued, full of insights from economic theory. More importantly, it is, broadly speaking, right. . . .Van Parijs's book .... makes clear that he is among the leading contemporary theorists."--Ethics

"A highly original defense of capitalism's legitimacy....First-rate analysis, not the least because it confronts theories of justice at the intersection between philosophy and economics."--Choice

About the Author

Philippe Van Parijs is a Professor of Economic and Social Ethics at the Universit� Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198293577
• ISBN-13: 978-0198293576
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,562,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Start, March 19, 2009

By 

M. LATORRA "Gozen" (Las Cruces, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? (Oxford Political Theory) (Paperback)

Philippe Van Parijs is a Belgian philosopher and political economist (correcting what reviewer "disidente" wrote). In this book Van Parijs makes a good start at constructing a solid philosophical and pragmatic argument for the desirability and possibility of establishing an unconditional guaranteed income. Upon this foundation others have been working to erect a Basic Income Guarantee, such as the Green Party of Canada, Green Party of England and Wales, Vivant (Belgium), De Groenen (The Netherlands), the Scottish Green Party, and the New Zealand Democratic Party. Worldwide, supporters of a basic income have united in the Basic Income Earth Network (http://www.basicincome.org/bien/). In the USA, the USBIG Network (http://www.usbig.net/) has carried the torch for this idea. Read this book if you want the clearest and most intellectually rigorous arguments to date for a guaranteed income for all. If you'd like to read critical counterarguments and Van Parijs's responses, I recommend that smaller (and much less expensive) "What's Wrong with a Free Lunch?" by Van Parijs et al which is available here on Amazon.com.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars an odd defense of liberal capitalism, February 6, 2009

By 

disidente "disidente" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? (Oxford Political Theory) (Paperback)

This book offers a rather odd defense of capitalism. The author is a liberal British academic philosopher. He argues that capitalism could only be defensible if there is an unconditional basic income provided to everyone. By "unconditional" he means that you are not required to work to obtain it. He calls this "real libertarianism". I think in fact he's not likely to convince either right wing or left wing libertarians. Left libertarians will argue that no society is free as long as workers are subordinated to bosses in work, for example...but this is an issue van Parijs doesn't discuss.

His argument is situated in the philosophical debate about "negative" and "positive" forms of liberty. The "negative" idea of liberty is that you are free if you are not coerced. This is the concept of freedom defended by right wing libertarians. Left wing libertarians argue that one also needs "positive" freedom, which may include things like equal access to resources (education, health care, etc) for charting your path in life, actual self-managment of decisions that affect you. The author's "unconditional basic income" is intended as his proposal for the "positive" form of freedom.

He doesn't address the basic problem that capitalist elites will have the resources and power to prevent any such entitlement to be enacted, or would always be working to reduce it or eliminate if it was enacted.